Have you EVER watched this show? I'm pretty sure you have, but threre is absolutely no way that any plotlines are ever going to wrap up easily or quickly. And, I don't see anything different in this season than any other; We're about a 1/3 of the way through and just about where we'd expect to be. I'm not seeing how these storylines have gotten too absurd; the Araz family stuff is about what you'd expect.
I'll freely admit that I never consistenly watched 24 until this season. But having said that...
It just seems like the storytelling has largely gone awry. I'm invested in the Jack Bauer action/unveiling-of-various-sundry-mysteries plot, but the the developments at CTU seem less like the operations of a counter-terrorist unit and more like the histrionics of General Hospital.
The Dricoll's daughter thread is pure sap. It's as if they're filming a schmaltzy Academy Awards-tailored retard epic inside the CIA. It's too conveniently dramatic for Driscoll to have a schizo daughter. And even worse, thus far it has no justifiable reason for being part of the story. I don't give a shit if it's EVENTUALLY going to make sense. The craft comes from making strange plotlines work in the moment, only to have them pay off in interesting and unexpected ways later. Not this manufactured crap.
The same goes for the boo-hoo butt fuck ex-husband. What the hell is he doing there? It seems to be a pretty paltry attempt to add draw a rift between Jack and Adrien (?). Isn't a massive terrorist attack ENOUGH?
That's just off the top of my head. There's more, however. Maybe I'm demanding too much of the show, but I felt like the first couple episodes displayed a great sense of pace, and a deft cohesion of action, character development, and dramatic development. Now, it seems too widely split between soap-operatics and high-octane kickin' ass -- it lacks a satisfying meld.
Still a fun show, however. I'm a nit picky shit head.
And by the way, thanks again for the Lost help. Now THAT's great TV storytelling...
*Noel Coward Parody
